(ed:..i couldn’t really care less if departed mayor brown had an affair or not..

what has really ground my gears with brown from just after day one -is that in his first election campaign brown promised to do just that – hand on heart (as only brown can with such (apparent) conviction/sincerity) he promised to help shelter the homeless of auckland..

and then he never mentioned them again..

and for me that will always be the legacy of len brown – how he turned his back on those most in need..

(yet another ostensibly labour politician also doing just that..?..(it must be a day ending in a ‘y’..eh.?.)

i wonder if goff will do any better..?..)

(excerpt..)

Phil Goff was officially sworn in as Auckland Mayor last night at Auckland Town Hall and spoke in his maiden speech of the hundreds of people sleeping rough around the city.

A hundred metres away from the pomp and ceremony a group of homeless men were bedding down on the steps of Aotea Square.

One Maori man who came to Auckland from Hawkes Bay five years ago to escape a life of crime said ‘Philly’ could help by building a night shelter in the city.

His friend Colin agreed.

‘This is part of my journey in life’ said the Maori man – slouched over a bag containing a sleeping bag – a blanket – or both.

‘Just call me Dog’.

The central city no longer has a night shelter – although the council recently allocated $250,000 a year for two years for the start-up costs of new emergency housing.

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New Auckland Mayor Phil Goff wants to make an early start on a $1 billion stadium on railway land alongside Vector Arena.

(ed: at first glance this looks like an idea with legs..)

(excerpt..)

Goff said he does not want to spend an estimated $250 million on upgrading Eden Park over the next 15 years and believes the spiritual home of rugby and cricket could be sold for as much as $300m.

Goff – who has only been in the mayoral job for two weeks – stressed the council did not have up to $1b to invest in a new stadium right now but if the council did not start planning it would miss the boat.

The mayor said private investment would be required and he hoped the Government might also provide some funding towards the project.

There was only one suitable site left in Auckland which could be home to a long-mooted CBD stadium Goff said – and that was the railway land next to Vector Arena close to the city’s main rail bus and ferry and motorway links.

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Once again the democratic process has been diverted by a large donation to a single candidate.

(ed:..phil goff got one donation of $150,000 from a single individual..)

(excerpt..)

The fantasy that rich donors – either individuals or groups – just spray their money at the candidate of their choice – then walk away – doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.

In national politics there are many recent examples of the rich pumping their money into political causes – including Conservative Party’s Colin Craig.

Act has had several – including Alan Gibbs – John Boscawen and the eccentric anti-Maori Louis Crimp from Invercargill – who weirdly strayed off message on national television to ask interviewer Jane Luscombe if she’d ever had sex against a tree.

(ed: i reckon that question asked of luscombe was one of the true highlights of any election ever held in new zealand..it was so batshit-crazy as to be almost beyond belief..)

I throw in national examples because the Auckland mayoralty race is now of a similar scale.

It has become too large and expensive to contest successively without the financial backing of rich individuals and pressure groups.

The question now looming is which candidate can make it all the way to the White House.

Making predictions about November in May may be asking for trouble but by some metrics it looks like Trump’s luck may be up.

When polls have asked voters to imagine a scenario in which they must choose between Trump and Clinton most have said they would choose Clinton.

Since May last year 67 polls have pitted the two candidates against one another.

In 58 such polls respondents chose Clinton over Trump.

Three polls found the two candidates tied and six gave Trump the win – on average by less than four percentage points.

(cont..)

(ed:..i find it quite surprising/dismaying the ‘dislike’-echoes in our upcoming mayoralty-race in auckland..

..it would seem the presumptive heir to the role is phil goff..

..and i welcome the idea of the rightwing/war-mongering/neoliberal/poverty-creator goff as mayor of auckland as much as i welcome the idea of his female ideologicical-compatriot in america – hillary clinton – as president of america..

(personally i have my fingers crossed that clinton will be indicted by the f.b.i. over the email-thingy – my hopes bouyed by the fact that the f.b.i. have given immunity from prosecution to clintons’ webmaster..(ask yrslf if that indicates pending indictment..)

..and that sanders will then go up against trump – and become president..

..unfortunately i see no such fall-back/rescue situation/scenario here in the auckland race..

..there is no bernie sanders standing in the wings..and the official opposition is a gaggle of rightwing no-hopers…all squabbling over the same pie..

..the leading rightwing candidate is a business-trout..with no hope of victory..

(tho’ i do like her idea of reclaiming the waterfront by booting out ports of auckland..in fact i like that idea so much it sizzles..)

..but in general all i can muster when contemplating a goff-future is a heartfelt sigh..